


my scenario has become more daring than i thought

by sleepyshamrocks



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, characters from other groups will appear, enjoy these words of self-fulfillment, things that i wished happened to me but will only happen in a badly-written fanfic, title taken from yes or yes lyrics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-08-21 04:50:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16569971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepyshamrocks/pseuds/sleepyshamrocks
Summary: “what’s she doing?” momo whispers. loudly. because there’s no use being tactful when the girl in question has the self-esteem of a drunk frat boy. besides her, jeongyeon scoffs. “doing her best imitation of a parrot preening itself, apparently.”nayeon continues posing in front of a dismantled desk mirror taped to the inside of her locker door. against school rules, of course. “babe, you’re dating this parrot,” she says nonchalantly. “besides, what’s wrong with them? everybody loves funny bird videos.”“wish i could return you to petsmart,” her girlfriend snarks.orstudent council president park jihyo pines for dancer myoui mina and at the same time hopes that she’s straight, because nothing’s worse than knowing that your crush likes girls but doesn’t like you





	1. Chapter 1

jihyo loves her friends. she really does. especially momo, who’s always willing to help a friend out and doesn’t have a single bad bone in her body. her love for her friends is boundless, stretched only in occasions like this moment, between 2nd and 3rd period, with momo shoving a messy pile of papers that look like it lost a fight with an industrial stapler to her face.

“here, read this,” the girl says with a grin on her face, bouncing with excitement. “i took your advice and used the student guide this time. it’s been proofread, don’t worry. i put it through paperrater.com and got an A!”

jihyo leans back in surprise and impulsively grabs the papers blocking her vision. “momo,” she starts, “i really hope this isn’t another — um.” her eyes suddenly register another presence behind the girl. a _very_ familiar presence. “mina, hey. nice to see you here.“

mina gives her one of her shy smiles, tucking her hair behind one ear. “hey jihyo. nice — nice to see you too.” she looks up and meets jihyo’s eyes, and seems to be...blushing?

the moment is broken with momo snapping her fingers in that loud, sharp way only certain people seem to be able to do. “jihyo. jihyo. read my proposal. the team wants permission to use the school’s parking lot as a battleground for a joint dance-off challenge against SM. and you,” she finger-guns, “are the only person between us and our bragging rights.” 

“momo i swear. i’ve brought it up to the principal five times. and guess how many times he said no. my influence as the student council president ends the moment i step foot in his office,” jihyo explains. it’s the fifth time since she’s gained said position. she shifts her feet to alleviate the weight of her heavy backpack.

momo pouts. “pretty pleaseee,” she says, stretching the last word for emphasis. “i swear, if he doesn’t approve of this, i won’t bother you again with proposals. we’ll think of something else. right mina?” she nudges the other girl, who breaks into a grin. “just one last time. i promise.”

it’s times like these that jihyo hates her inability to disappoint any of her friends. “fine,” she sighs and shoves momo’s proposal down her bag. “i’ll go now. tell professor park i’ll catch up with the material later, okay?” 

momo gives her a bear hug in response, which jihyo pretends to fight off. “go to class before i report you for detention.” it’s an empty threat and they both know it. jihyo’s too nice to give out detentions on mondays, like today.

her friend only grins and gestures for mina to come with her. “come on. i’ll drop you off first.”

jihyo smiles at their retreating figures and heads towards the opposite direction. and thinks about mina. shy, kind mina, who says hi whenever they bump to each other and blushes more than she talks. who dances with the confidence and elegance people don’t expect her to possess. who breathes life into movement, who is the only person momo trusts to choreograph for the team, who — 

who is probably straight, if jihyo is to be honest. sure, you shouldn’t assume anyone’s sexuality, but mina hasn’t given her the slightest indication that she’s into girls. unlike jeongyeon, who used to spout random science facts whenever nayeon was in a twenty meter vicinity. nayeon was just too oblivious to notice jeongyeon’s awkward attempts at flirting.

jihyo’s mind clears when she sees the familiar brown door with a plaque declaring ‘PRINCIPAL’ and suppresses the urge to cringe before knocking; she’s never really felt comfortable with principal hyun-suk, there’s something about his leering gaze that she can’t seem to shake off.

“come in,” she hears him say. she politely enters and puts on a smile, masking her previous introspections, and waits for principal hyun-suk to finish whatever he’s writing. when he looks up, she approaches him and grabs the proposal that was shoved deep in her backpack. a few papers float away and jihyo visibly winces. 

principal hyun-suk raises an eyebrow. “the dance team again?” he asks dryly.

“yeah. for what it’s worth, sir, i think this one is much more reasonable than the last proposal she put together. at least they’re shooting for the parking lot, not the roof like last time,” jihyo reasons. she’s always weirdly defensive when it comes to momo and her squad. 

he pages through the papers with a disinterested look. the pace was so slow that jihyo absently starts to read the newspaper clippings framed on the wall behind him. “ _ **Yang Hyun-Suk Receives ‘Best Upcoming Music Producer 2005’ Award** ,_” one headline displays in big, bold letters. Another one reads, “ _ **Seoul University Music Student Releases An Enchanting Online Debut Single**_.” unexpected past achievements from a public high school principal.

“look,” principal hyun-suk starts. “i still don’t understand why miss hirai is so persistent about doing all these competitions, but i’ll check with the school board. see me again about this tomorrow,” he decides. jihyo sighs in relief. it’s not an outright ‘no’ like the past five times. at least jihyo will have the privilege of bestowing hope to momo.

she stands and prepares to leave. “alright sir, i’ll — “

“no, wait,” he says, raising a hand to stop her. jihyo inwardly groans at the prospect of having to extend her stay. “i have something to discuss with you. it’s about the vandalism case. i understand there was another one last week?”

jihyo affirms with a nod. last thursday, students were greeted with graffiti-sprayed words saying ‘ **QUEEN BEE JENNIE KIM HOOKS UP W/ LOCAL SOUNDCLOUD RAPPER BOBBY. NEW MUMBLE RAP PREDICTED TO BE RELEASED** ’ on the back of the gym wall. needless to say, word of it spread quickly throughout the school and earned some laughs.

“are you any closer to figuring out who the vandal is?” principal hyun-suk said, serious expression on his face. “it’s already been six months, and we still don’t have a clue on who it is. i’m starting to think that the student council isn’t taking this case seriously.”

jihyo laughs nervously and shifts in her seat. “sir, with all due respect….right now we’re focusing on helping the soccer team organize the championship match with SM. it’s a week away, and i just thought that since the vandalism case isn’t really that urgent of a case, we’d put it off until the match is over,” she explains. 

the principal eyes her and she instantly realizes her mistake. “i mean, not that it isn’t urgent, of course! it’s just that the stuff that’s written aren’t malicious, they’re just...entertaining.” 

it’s true. last thursday, jihyo saw jennie walk by the infamous wall and all she did was smile and roll her eyes. it’s not like most of the student body hadn’t already seen her instagram stories.

“fine. after the soccer match, i want the vandal caught immediately. you hear me?” principal hyun-suk demands.

jihyo suppresses the urge to roll her eyes. “yes, sir. i’ll get the student council on it,” she answers, injecting as much politeness to the words as possible. being the student council president means that there’s constantly a lot of sucking up to do.

after being dismissed, she heads out to 4th period math, with an hour to go until lunch. nayeon is in her class, which is great because the girl’s over-the-top personality and lack of fear means that there’s always going to be arguments with the teacher that take away at least fifteen minutes of class time. and today’s not any different. professor lee catches nayeon chewing gum while she’s handing back test papers and demands her to “either share with the whole class or spit it out”, to which nayeon responds by grabbing two bottles of green Xylitol and starts tossing. jihyo catches two and pops them in her mouth, eyeing the exasperated expression on the teacher’s face.

lunch finally comes around, and jihyo walks with nayeon to find jeongyeon and sana already waiting for them at their table, apparently in the middle of a discussion.

“look, it wouldn’t make sense to bench lisa in the first half. she’s one of our best strikers; we should gain a lead first and then play defense in the second half,” jeongyeon argues, stabbing her fork in her salad bowl for emphasis.

sana shakes her head. “no, i’m telling you. it’s better to play — oh hey guys!” they both look up when jihyo and nayeon reach the table. the latter wrinkles her nose and sets her food down, sliding next to jeongyeon.

“ugh, that stupid match? choreographing our routine was such a pain in the ass.”

jeongyeon musters the sweetest smile she is physically able to make. “babe, you know your presence is the only thing that gets me through the match. every time i look at the sidelines and see your pretty face sweating from forming pyramids, i feel like that moment in high school musical two when troy sees gabriella’s face in the bleachers and by some miracle he scores a three-point basket. you make me feel like that.”

nayeon just smacks the back of her girlfriend’s head. “shut up. i wish you didn’t look so hot in that uniform, or else i wouldn’t even bother showing up.”

“aww, you love me,” jeongyeon coos.

jihyo sees sana pretending to gag and decides to change the conversation. “hey sana, where’s momo? is she not eating today?” sana and momo are usually attached at the hip, so it’s weird not to see them both together during lunch. 

her friend’s mood instantly changes. “i don’t know. we’re not talking,” sana sulks, biting into an apple with more force than necessary. “she’s acting weird lately. i think she’s avoiding me.”

“did you guys have a fight?” jihyo asks, concerned. 

“no! she just suddenly stopped talking to me. and i can’t — i don’t know what to do. she keeps rejecting my calls, and this morning i saw her walking with mina. like, what’s up with that? since when did they become so close?” 

nayeon puts a comforting arm around sana’s shoulders and tries to console her, but jihyo’s mind is stuck on the last sentence.

“wait, momo and mina are friends, right? they’re both in the dance team together. why would it be weird for them to talk?” jihyo questions. she’s never noticed anything out of the ordinary between the two of them.

“yeah, but,” sana sighs and leans on jeongyeon. “now that momo’s not talking to me i feel like she’s been talking to mina instead. you know how the soccer team and dance team end practices at the same time every wednesday? last week i saw them walking in the parking lot when i was walking back to my car and overheard mina saying my name, but then momo noticed me and kind of rushed away. and the next day we talked at school but she just seemed really off.”

she pauses, then continues speaking slowly. “i think there might be something between momo and mina. something that momo’s hiding from me.”

 _oh_. this is a new development that jihyo definitely did _not_ know about. 

“wait,” nayeon suddenly whips her head towards jihyo. “jihyo, didn’t you say that mina’s probably straight? shit, is she and momo a thing?” her eyes widen conspiratorially.

sana lightly whacks her arm. “if they were, momo would tell me. relationships are something we never hide from each other. never ever. not since the seven years we’ve been friends.”

 _well, something’s clearly changed_ is right on the tip of jihyo’s tongue, but she refrains from saying it. knows how precious sana and momo’s relationship is to her friend, and how heartbroken the girl would be if she were to lose momo.

before anyone else can say anything, the shrill sound of the bell echoes throughout the cafeteria and breaks the girls out of their thoughts. jeongyeon immediately starts shoveling the rest of her food in her mouth while nayeon watches with a disgusted (yet loving) expression.

“back to class it is,” jihyo announces.

\------------------

jihyo is late.

jihyo is never late.

she’s only been late for a grand total of three times throughout high school, and two of those times were caused by nayeon getting held up in line for her morning coffee and reached jihyo’s house fifteen minutes late. the older girl probably broke ten speeding laws on the drive to school but they still ended up with a warning anyway. 

since then, jihyo’s opted to place a higher value on life and ride the bus instead.

but sometimes, things don’t work out. like this morning, when she overslept through her alarm and her little sister seoyeon was too distracted by her phone to notice that her older sister wasn’t eating breakfast with her. seoyeon was already halfway out the door when the noticeable absence of a loud, bossy voice hit her. the solution? yelling ‘JIHYO’ once on the top of her lungs and then rushing out to catch her own bus to the middle school.

so now jihyo’s here, slumping over the worn bus seat, ignoring her vibrating phone in favor of finishing her science homework, heart beating a hundred miles an hour from the morning rush and the fear that she isn’t going to be able to finish the damn stoichiometry questions. she’s accepted the fact that she’s definitely going to be late for first period, so at least there won’t be a need to speed-walk to school from the bus stop like she normally does everyday.

the bus slows down and jihyo neatly slides her textbook into her bag, ready to hop off. as it pulls up to the stop, jihyo looks out the window and immediately notices something very, very weird.

about half the school is milling around outside, talking and goofing around, acting like class didn’t just start twenty minutes ago. there’s mark, jackson, jaebum, and youngjae leaning against jackson’s car joking around loudly like they always do. across them, jihyo spots her classmates sowon, yuju, and yerin talking with serious expressions on their faces and runs up to them.

“hey guys,” jihyo pants, feeling a little rude intruding on their conversation but wanting to know _what the hell is going on_. “why is everyone out? was there a fire drill or something?” 

sowon turns to her, brows furrowed. “did you just get here? have you not seen it?”

“wait, see wh — “

“jihyo!” a voice interrupts. they all turn to see jeongyeon and nayeon jogging towards them.

“why didn’t you pick up my calls? shit, did you just get here?” jeongyeon asks urgently, nodding to the other girls as a greeting.

“can you — can someone just tell me what is going on?!” jihyo demands. “i have no idea what’s happening.”

“the vandal, they wrote something this morning,” nayeon perks, making a face. “apparently jisoo came early to take some gym clothes she left and saw the new artwork. she told jennie and, well, now the whole school knows. the teachers all went for an emergency meeting ten minutes ago.”

a feeling of dread starts to settle in the bottom of jihyo’s chest. what could honestly be so bad that warranted an emergency teacher meeting and let students get out of class like this?

yuju grabs her arm. “here, come see for yourself.”

the six of them speed past the school’s left wing and turn to reach the back of the gym building. the second jihyo’s eyes fall upon the gleaming words, clearly made recently and still semi-wet, she gasps.

right there, in big, bold letters, someone has spray-painted the words ‘ **PRINCIPAL YANG HYUN-SUK, 08/11/2018, 16:25, OFFICE: UNIFORM SKIRTS SHOULD BE SHORTER, THE GIRLS WOULD LOOK HOTTER IN THEM**.’

her conversation with the principal on the previous day comes rushing back, and jihyo recalls how she insisted that the vandal was nothing to worry about.

“crap,” she groans, remembering. “he’s going to kill me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cries in gay


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took so long i hate myself
> 
> also merry christmas!

jihyo closes the office door as quiet as she can. once she’s walked a reasonable distance from it, she lets out a long groan not unlike that of a distressed cow. a frazzled park jihyo is not common sight to be seen, but right now she’s taking advantage of the fact that other students are in class and therefore are unable to witness her about to yank all her hair out from the stress of being chewed out by the school principal. 

right now, she has two choices: go to her last class of the day and continue studying like the model student she’s supposed to be, or sit on the worn beanbag strategically placed in the back of the library and take a quasi-nap in order to ward off the memory of her earlier encounter. 

the latter wins by default, and jihyo stalks off to the library. the omnipresent electrical buzz from the lights fill the deserted hallway and does little to suppress her urge to march back into the office and knock off the man’s ridiculous newsboy hat with her chemistry textbook. jihyo spent the entire time staring at that stupid hat while principal hyun-suk yelled at her about ‘irresponsibility’ and ‘defamation of character’, until she got so tired of his grating voice that she asked, point-blank, if the words were true. his face instantly adopted the color of flamin’ hot cheetos (not an easy facial complexion to summon involuntarily, mind you) and subsequently sent her out with a ‘i want results by next week’ through gritted teeth. jihyo pointedly tugged down her skirt before exiting. 

the library is quiet when she walks in, and she sends a wave to suzy, the nice librarian who _totally_ wasn’t jihyo’s first crush and gay awakening. she’s pretty sure suzy used to notice her falling apart into a stuttering mess every single time she checked out books throughout freshman year. jihyo’s just glad that she eventually learned how to not go on overdrive whenever a pretty girl flashes her a smile.

she passes several students studying and takes a turn when she reaches the second-to-last bookshelf on the right. not a lot of people know about this particular spot because a) it’s partially hidden by two adjacent bookshelves and hard to spot from the study area, and b) no one spends their free time voluntarily in the library of all places, and therefore have never gone exploring past the celtic mythology section. so it’s under this assumption that jihyo tosses her bag down and is about to jump on the beanbag ‘round the corner when — 

jihyo stumbles back, hits her head on a bookshelf, and stifles a scream. at the same time, the other girl gasps in surprise and sits up on the beanbag.

“jesus, mina. i almost threw myself on you,” jihyo whispers loudly, clutching her chest. then pauses, and turns red. “i - i mean, i didn’t expect anyone to be here, that’s all. hey, what _are_ you doing here? don’t you have class now?”

mina smirks. “are you going to give me detention if i say that i skipped class?” she teases, making space for jihyo to sit next to her. jihyo, for her part, resists the urge to plop down and send mina flying sideways.

“i think that would be considered abuse of power, but if you insist...”

mina elbows her lightly and laughs, head thrown back and shoulders shaking. jihyo grins, childishly pleased that her sense of humor is finally acknowledged and appreciated by someone who is not momo.

“so, mina,” she drawls. “if you’re not just here to purposefully bait me into fulfilling my responsibilities, care to tell me the real reason?”

“i - yeah, i’m just waiting until the bell rings so i can get out. i’ve been sitting here since lunch,” she admits. “hey, where were you this morning? i didn’t see you at gym class.”

jihyo groans and rubs her eyes. “ugh, the student council had an emergency meeting with the school board that took up three whole periods about, you know, the yesterday incident, since yg apparently blamed _us_ for this ‘slander’,” she put up air quotes, “or something. and then i had to deal with him yelling at my face for another hour.”

“ouch,” mina sympathizes. “is he in trouble with the board? i hope he is, that creep. i can’t believe he’s been looking at girls like that!” then, almost as an afterthought, asks, “how did the vandal find out about it anyway?

jihyo shifts into a more comfortable position on their shared seat and lies her head back. she considers leaning into mina’s shoulder but decides that their current stage of friendship is one that allows casual banter but not unannounced skinship. “ugh, i barely know anything. dahyun and i tried to ask jisoo but she swore up and down that whoever wrote it must have left shortly before she arrived because the graffiti was still wet when she arrived. and since that area isn’t covered by any security cameras, whoever did it could’ve easily slipped inside the gym right after.”

mina hums in acknowledgment, and a brief lull follows after. jihyo snaps a mental picture of this moment: both of them lying side-by-side in a hidden section of the library, bathed in sunlight coming breaking through the window above them, jihyo to escape from her student council responsibilities for a second, and mina to…

wait, why is mina here again?

jihyo suddenly sits up in realization, startling mina. “hey, you totally changed the subject earlier after i asked why you were here. what’s up with that?”

mina bites her lip and avoids jihyo’s gaze. “i come here sometimes when i need space to think. and this morning…i had a lot of thoughts. that’s all.”

jihyo debates on a proper response, and then goes with her most non-intrusive one. “mina...i know that this is probably the first time we’ve ever talked without momo hovering behind you or nayeon interrupting us, but i just wanted to say...i’d really like to be your friend for real. if - if that’s okay with you.” her heart races from the anticipation, and jihyo prays that mina is too nice of a person to outright reject her. if that happened, jihyo is 100% sure that she would collapse from the sheer embarrassment.

instead, mina lifts her head up and beams, puts a hand on jihyo’s arm and says, “i’d like that, jihyo.”

“yeah?” and then she decides to shoot her shot, because why not. “do you want to exchange numbers? for friend purposes. since we’re friends now.”

mina readily agrees, and they switch phones and type their numbers in. jihyo names herself as ‘jihyo {prayer emoji} {sunglasses emoji} {cowboy hat emoji}’ on mina’s. when she receives her phone back, she sees that mina had saved her own number under a simple ‘minari’.

“minari?”

“that’s what my close friends call me.”

“we talk once and i’m already one of your close friends? i’m flattered.”

mina blushes. “we’ve talked before! and we have a lot of common friends; it’s perfectly reasonable for me to see you as someone in my social circle.”

“okay then, _minari_ ,” jihyo grins. then turns on her phone screen to check the time and finds that school is about to end in ten minutes, which sucks because - , well, that’s only ten more minutes with mina. she puts down her phone and lets out a quiet sigh. 

but then again, the universe is set out to embarrass her. mina, apparently possessing the hearing skills of a bat, looks at her curiously. “what’s wrong?”

“uhhh, nothing. i just...remembered that a friend asked me to cover her shift this saturday.” not quite a lie; earlier, chaeyoung had texted her saying that she had planned a date with tzuyu and would jihyo _please please please help two young girls fall in love with each other through the timeless and romantic act of going to the movies to watch_ avengers: infinity war _and maybe eat some fried chicken after._ jihyo had rolled her eyes and texted back, _u’ve been dating for three months, i’m pretty sure tzuyu’s already bored of ur incessant need to comment on eVeRy SiNgLe scENE when watching a movie._ to which chaeyoung had replied, _B)_

“you work?” mina asks curiously.

“yeah, at jeongyeon’s dad’s restaurant. only on weekends, though, and part-time.” jihyo shoves down the automatic defensive reply that almost comes out out of habit – she’s not embarrassed of being a scholarship student, and it’s normal for a teenager like her to get a part-time job to make some money for herself (in reality, jihyo gives most of her earnings to her mom; the thought of spending all the money on herself makes her feel selfish), but jihyo is well-aware of how wealthy mina’s family is, if momo’s words were anything to go by. the girl has probably never even stepped foot in a mcdonald’s her entire life.

“cool,” mina replies neutrally. “hey, i should probably go now. i want to get some dance practice in before the rest of the team arrives.”

“okay.”

they both stand up, and jihyo is kind of bummed that their time together has ended since it would probably be hard to find pockets of time like these again given their respective busy schedules. but then her mind does a small fist pump when she remembers that she has mina’s phone number now, which is more than what pre-library-trip jihyo had.

mina slings her school bag over one shoulder and turns. “see you tomorrow. and text me later so i know i typed in the right number, okay?”

an actual invitation to text her crush outside of school? jihyo almost has a stroke.

“y - yeah. i will! as soon as i can! i promise!”

today is already turning out to be much better.

\------------------

jihyo munches on her last french fry as she tries to block out the sound of her two oldest friends bickering on the opposite seat of the worn-down booth. really, with the way they’ve been talking to each other, jihyo is mildly surprised at jeongyeon’s ability to restrain herself from dumping her milkshake on nayeon’s head.

“...and i cannot BELIEVE that you actually told jinyoung, ‘sorry, she has a girlfriend. and we’re fucking each other,’ when ALL he asked was whether he could borrow a pen from me.”

“hey! you never know, he might be into you, in which case i’ve successfully done my duty as your girlfriend to ward off any hormonal boy standing within a twenty-meter radius from you.”

jeongyeon closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “park jinyoung is gay.”

“ _ohhh_. oops”

“im nayeon, you’re a twat.”

“but isn’t ‘im nayeon’ more of a state of mind? like, in a way, we were all im nayeon today.”

“can you, and i say this out of love, shut the fuck up.”

nayeon takes a long slurp of her mango tea in reply. 

jeongyeon rolls her eyes and turns to jihyo, who’s been staring blankly at the ingredients label of the ketchup bottle once she ran out of french fries to distract herself with.

‘jihyo.” poke. “hey, jihyo.”

“hmm?”

“how’d your meeting with that ass go?”

the ketchup bottle narrowly misses being shattered as it is slammed onto the table. “you know what i don’t get?! how does a major accusation like this get completely derailed from figuring out whether it’s true or not, into catching the person who exposed it. like, the school board was more focused on discussing the lack of surveillance and the procedure of pressing vandalism charges instead of _whether the principal looks at his students in a sexual manner._ did everyone else just miss that part, or what?”

the mood turns appropriately turns serious, and nayeon even stops her obnoxious slurping. jihyo knows that her friends are perceptive enough to tell when she’s genuinely upset.

jeongyeon reaches across the table and rubs jihyo’s shoulder in comfort. “hey, he’s a dick, everyone knows it, even the teachers. jackson spent the entire last period pointing out how sexual harassment is often overlooked as a serious subject and professor lee just nodded the whole time, even when jackson called principal hyun-suk a dipshit.”

“seriously?? that’s what i missed in class? dammit.”

“you guys,” nayeon interrupts. “who do you think is the person behind all this? i heard sowon and her friends are betting that it’s chaeyoung. _our_ chaeyoung.”

jihyo scoffs. “there is no way that chaeyoung’s the vandal. yeah, art and political activism are two things that would point to her, but you guys are forgetting something very, very important.” she leans in and sends a conspiring look to her friends, who also lean in to catch whatever she’s going to say next. “she’s too short to reach the top corner of the back of the gym wall.”

“seriously?” jeongyeon rolls her eyes. “i thought you were going to say, ‘tzuyu would never let chaeyoung risk herself and get caught,’ or something. but yeah, i don’t think it’s her either. remember when the vandal wrote the thing about prof taecyeon and nickhun? chaeyoung’s sense of humor would NEVER.”

they recall the time the vandal had written ‘professor taecyeon and professor nickhun spotted leaving school grounds together. regular, healthy friendship between two adults or secret gay affair?’ which made students tease the hell out of the two teachers whenever they were in close proximity with each other. all in good spirit, though, because no one would actually insult the two most beloved teachers in the academy. 

nayeon shakes her head. “my money’s on jung eunwoo. that girl is freakishly smart, she could legitimately get away with murder if she wanted to.”

jihyo contemplates it for a moment, then replies, “nah, nayoung would beat her ass if she was really running around vandalizing the school, especially after – hey, momo’s here!”

nayeon immediately whips around her seat and spots momo, who is just about to push open the glass door. she grins when she spots the three of them sitting in their usual spot.

“took you long enough,” jeongyeon calls. “did you manage to get lost on a ten-minute walk from school? your dance class should’ve ended half an hour ago.”

“leave me alone, i saw a puppy, okay?” momo flushes and flips them off, walking to the counter. five minutes later, she comes over to their table carrying a tray piled high with two burgers, a mountain of onion rings, a strawberry milkshake, and a handful of condiment packets haphazardly thrown in. 

jihyo makes a disbelieving face as momo grabs the seat next to her and sets her food down.

“how do you still have the body you have now?”

momo takes a huge bite out of her burger. “thealouth muth?”

nayeon sniffs and steals an onion ring. “it’s unfair how you can eat your own weight in fast food and still have abs. un. fair.”

“you and sana have the freakiest metabolisms, i swear. your mitochondrias must be working overtime to keep you looking like that,” jeongyeon chimes in.

at that, momo swallows her food, and jihyo notices the shift in her expression. “sana’s...not coming, is she?” momo asks hesitantly. 

the other three exchange wary glances. “sana told me that she wanted to get in some extra soccer practice, so i didn’t ask her to join us,” jeongyeon explains. her brows furrow in that typical concerned, mom-friend look of hers. “and why are you avoiding her, anyway?”

“i’m not avoiding her,” momo denies quickly, though jihyo sees through it. “anyway, jeong, isn’t the game against SM in, like, three days? how are you holding up as captain of the team?”

jeongyeon opens her mouth to answer but is stopped by a swift ‘shh’ and a hand to her mouth. nayeon, one hand against her girlfriend and the other brandishing a ketchup packet like a sword, leans towards momo with the aggressiveness of an annoyed housecat. 

“hirai momo, you WILL tell us what is going on between you and sana and you WILL do it now. stop trying distracting jeongyeon with irrelevant soccer-talk and answer the damn question. why are you avoiding sana?”

“uhhh…”

jihyo senses momo’s internal panic and lays a calming hand on her arm. “don’t listen to the hag. you don’t have to tell us anything if you don’t want to.” a glare is shot in nayeon’s direction, who pretends to ignore it. “but momo...we’re concerned about you. the longest time you and sana have been voluntarily apart was when she broke her arm and the nurses wouldn’t let you in the hospital room after you lied about being her sister. it’s just weird seeing you two apart, and sana’s made it clear that she’s not the one doing the avoiding.”

momo holds jihyo’s gaze for a moment, then deflates, her eyes cast downwards. “i just – something weird happened two weeks ago, and i needed time to process my feelings. and that involves not talking to sana.”

“what happened?” jihyo prompts.

“jeong, remember when dance practice was cancelled so i came to the pitch to watch you guys play? and the second sana saw me walking in, she ran from her post or whatever and just hugged me and kept hugging me until you kicked the ball from halfway across the field and it knocked my phone out of my hand? you’ll be buying me a new screen protector, by the way.”

jeongyeon squints her eyes. “go on.”

“it was so stupid, all she did was hug me. she didn’t even say anything; after i picked up my phone, she just laughed and ran back to the game. i don’t know, the way her face lit up when she saw me and stopped everything just to hug me, and when she put her head against my chest — 

i just suddenly had this overflowing feeling, looking at her smile and her eyes – she’s so genuine, you know? and so pretty.

and when she hugged me i felt like i couldn’t breathe, but in a good way, like when you hold your breath underwater and your chest feels tight but you still keep going because you know you have control, and you know you’ll be proud of yourself for holding on so long when you come up for air. i couldn’t breathe and i didn’t want to, i didn’t want to move because then everything would change.

that’s what it felt like,” momo finishes.

the table is silent, and jihyo internally wants to peace out from the sheer emotional tension hanging between them. but she can’t, because one of her best friends is chewing on a burger and tearing up and _in love_. 

she’s searching for the right words to comfort momo when jeongyeon, who apparently doesn’t have the same penchant for identifying sensitive situations, stabs an onion ring and says, “so you’re in love with sana. what else is new.”

“ _jeong!_ ” nayeon whacks her girlfriend’s arm.

“ow! get your giant hands away from me!”

jihyo rolls her eyes. “stop it, you two. you’re ruining the moment here.” 

nayeon and jeongyeon immediately shoot momo apologetic looks, but the girl only sighs. “it’s fine, guys. really. it was just hard for me to be around her, you know? it was like she was taking up all my attention and all i’d notice was _her_ , and then it would hit me that she’s always treated me the same way since we were young. her feelings for me never changed.”

“momo…” jeongyeon spares an apprehensive glance at nayeon – who doesn’t notice – before continuing. “people love differently. maybe for you, falling in love is magnetic, it’s breathtaking, it’s stars in her eyes and the sun shining down on her face. for me, it was calm, and comfort, and steady, like a heartbeat. sana shows it differently, but i know,” she stresses the last word, “that she loves you. whether it’s the way you want her to or not.”

nayeon slams a fist on the table and cries out, “aha! so you admit that you love me!”, and at the same time, jihyo comments, “yoo jeongyeon, that was the cheesiest thing you’ve ever said.”

“shhh, i want to hear what she says next,” momo says, now clearly amused and grinning at jeongyeon’s reddening face. 

“at least give try to give some explanation on why you were avoiding her, if you’re not ready to tell her everything. she doesn’t deserve to be ghosted, especially by her best friend.”

nayeon snorts. “or just go up to her and say, ‘i’m hot. you’re hot. let’s fuck.’ works every time.”

momo flings a mayonnaise-sogged bun at her, who shrieks and grabs a surprised jeongyeon by the shoulders to duck behind. one of jeongyeon’s flailing arms knocks over jihyo’s can of coke, which spreads across the table at an alarming rate before anticlimactically fizzling to a stop just before spilling over the edge. in her haste to avoid having her shirt soaked, momo quickly pushes her chair back and almost falls backwards when it suddenly tips over. 

jihyo watches the whole scene unfold and pinches the bridge of her nose in exasperation. 

\------------------

after speeding through her dinner and throwing out a homework-related excuse to stay in her room for the rest of the night, jihyo closes the door shut and falls on her bed, eyes never leaving her phone screen. there, displayed in all its sans-serif glory, is a name and a green button shaped in the silhouette of a telephone receiver. to call or not to call? she has a hard time answering that question.

on one hand, jihyo is not the type of person to make the first move on her crush, especially if said crush is part of her social circle which therefore would increase the risk of having her other friends know and clown her for it. on the other hand, she and mina are friends now, right? and friends can call each other for the sake of it without having any weird romantic undertones or anything.

jihyo’s thumb impulsively presses call, and there’s no turning back now. she listens to the dialing tone and partly wishes that mina won’t pick up. that would give her a convenient out _and_ she’ll still be able to pat herself on the back for making a brave decision regarding her love life for once. 

no such luck. ten seconds later, her phone lights up with a ‘0:01’ and mina’s voice calls out a soft, “hello?”

“uhh, hi mina. it’s jihyo.”

“i know, the caller id gave it away.” _right._ “so, what’s up?”

what _is_ up, indeed.

“nothing much, really. i’m catching up on my sociology essay since i missed the class today. i usually love doing research but this time it’s frying my brain.” _lie._ the laptop on her desk displays a paused screen of the 34th episode of an anime series she’s been binge watching. her essay is nowhere to be seen, but she needs to make a good first-call impression. 

“that’s cool. i don’t take sociology, but momo told me that the teacher’s super fun,” mina replies, her voice tinged with confusion. probably on why jihyo was calling her about catching up on homework, of all things. 

is it too late to google conversation starters? 

“yeah, it’s my favorite class this year!” and then, the realization that mina might just be in the middle of something suddenly hits her, and jihyo feels embarrassed. “wait, am i bothering you right now? i’m so sorry, we can talk tomorrow, I just wanted to –,”

“no no, it’s fine,” mina interrupts. “i was glad you called, actually.”

there’s a pause in which jihyo expects her to elaborate but doesn’t, and she’s just about to ask why when mina continues with a quieter, more hesitant tone. “jihyo?”

“yeah?”

“earlier today … did you mean it, about wanting to be my friend?”

“of course i did.” sensing the change in atmosphere, jihyo sits up on the bed. “why are you asking?”

“no one’s really ever asked to be my friend before,” mina answers shyly, and jihyo can almost picture her blushing. “wait, it’s a little sad when i put it that way. i just meant that with other people, i’m just friends with them by circumstance. if i hadn’t joined the dance team, i wouldn’t be friends with momo and tzuyu and sinb and the other girls. so it means a lot that you asked me.”

her heart twinges at the other girl’s slightly melancholic tone, and she wants to say, _mina, you’re amazing and i may have been low-key crushing on you for the past year_. but there’s no way she’s going to jeopardize the early stages of this blooming friendship, so instead she says, “nah, people have definitely been missing out. how many people can say that they’re friends with a weirdo who dances like their bones are made of liquid?”

mina snorts. “should i be offended that you called me a weirdo?”

“not as offended as you should be when you hear what i think about the haircut you got in the last year of middle school. emo bangs, really?”

“shut up! i was in an attack on titans phase, okay? don’t attack mikasa like this.”

“and that time you got a temporary tattoo of sailor venus on your arm and didn’t get caught by any of the teachers because you somehow managed to avoid raising your left arm for a whole month.”

“...okay, i admit, that one might have been a mistake.”

“it was cute though, i remember the time we were in the auditorium for orientation and nayeon whined about not being able to pronounce sailor moon’s catchphrase right. you were passing by and you called her a wannabe otaku then ran.”

jihyo can practically imagine mina exasperatedly rolling her eyes for being exposed, and fully expects her to laugh it off or defend her younger self. she isn’t ready for mina’s actual reply.

“so you’ve been paying attention to me for years, huh? i’m flattered, jihyo,” mina teases, the lilt on her words bordering on playfulness. “really, you should’ve said something all this time.”

_WAS SHE FLIRTING OR AM I JUST DESPERATE ????_

“pfft, as if. my memory’s just that good, you know. and i was _way_ too intimidated to approach you when we were younger; i always felt like i was committing a great sin whenever one of us accidentally disturbed you from reading your manga during lunch or something.” _deflection. nice save._

mina snorts. “me being quiet throughout early middle school was just to cover up how horrible my korean was. it had nothing to do with cementing my reputation as a comic-book-reading recluse.”

“damn, it must’ve been lonely for you.”

“ehh, i’m used to it, more so at home than at school, though. and ever since we entered high school it hasn’t been that bad, the girls at the dance team are really nice to me and we all hang out together sometimes.”

jihyo suddenly gets a pang of awareness. she’s known mina throughout middle school and two years of high school, and they’ve never really spoken to each other outside of quick conversations or mandatory school-related group activities. that stereotypical high school clique divide isn’t really real, but sometimes, two people just never meet in the intersection of the venn diagram of social circles. 

mina must have took jihyo’s silence as pity and hurriedly adds, “anyway, it’s not really a big deal to me. like i said, i’m used to it.”

jihyo bites her lip. “what if you don’t have to?” she says, voice low.

“don’t have to what?”

“be used to it?”

silence.

then, “what does that mean?”

“it means, you can always be able to count on a friend, okay? especially if that friend is a highly stressed and overworked pushover by day, equally stressed and overworked but less of a pushover by night.” 

mina laughs, her tinny voice echoing from the phone clutched in jihyo’s hand. “i’ll make sure to remember that. you’re very self-aware.”

“and you’re weirdly perceptive.”

“but in a good way, though?”

“yeah, yeah. in a good way.”

there’s a comfortable lull, and jihyo’s eyes randomly scan her room before falling upon the laptop displaying a screensaver slideshow of fifth-grade pictures of her, nayeon, and jeongyeon posing in a zoo. she stares at the picture for a moment, and then the implication of the open laptop makes her heart suddenly drop.

_shit._

“shit.”

“what is it?”

“my essay! i’m – hurry up, turn on! – i’m only halfway through and it’s due tomorrow.” jihyo closes the video player and chooses to ignore the shame. sorry violet evergarden, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. “why did i just remember that??”

“i thought you said you were in the middle of doing it when you called.”

jihyo facepalms at the slip. she clearly can’t say, _it was just a bullshit excuse i made up which turned out to actually be something that i need to finish right now_ , so she opts for the answer, “uhh…the break took longer than expected, but i really need to do it now if i want to sleep before 3 am.”

“okay then. i’d wish you good luck if i didn’t know that you’ll get the highest score, as always,” mina quips.

“i’ll talk to you tomorrow at school!” jihyo tries to dial the eagerness in her voice down to a minimum.

“i’ll look forward to that.”

“bye, mina.”

“good night, jihyo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feel free to leave comments! they make my day :)


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